SATAN and the LIE of Replacement Theology
SATAN and the LIE of Replacement Theology
By Geri Ungurean
Most of us have heard of the false teaching called Replacement Theology. This article is for those who either have never heard of it, or have had this preached to them Sunday after Sunday and just figured that it was Biblical.
I’m here to tell you – It’s a lie from the pit of hell.
Replacement Theology (RT), has been around for centuries. The term used by theologians is supersessionism. The church supersedes Israel. Theologians have cited the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD as proof that God was finished with the Jewish people.
It has always amazed me that churches who teach RT completely ignore some critically important words by the apostle Paul in Romans 11. I would HIGHLY recommend that you read all of Romans 11 (9 and 10 as well) but Romans 11 truly expresses why the Jews did not receive their Savior, and clearly shows that God is not done with His Chosen people.
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
“Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all” (Romans 11: 25-32).
How could this be any clearer? God ordained that a blindness in part would happen to Israel, until all of the Gentiles who were to be saved would come into His Kingdom. It also states the gifts of and the calling of God are irrevocable.
God’s plan from the beginning was to offer salvation to the entire world. He used the Jewish people to bring His law to show His Holiness, and then through their lineage He would ultimately bring His Son to pay for all sin. What a merciful and loving God we serve!
Two types of Replacement Theology
There are two main schools of thought regarding RT:
Israel’s role as God’s Chosen was completed once Jesus came to earth (economic supersessionism).
Because of her disobedience, Israel forfeited her role as Chosen of God because of her rejection of Jesus as Messiah (punitive supersessionism).
Punitive supersessionism was clearly articulated by Martin Luther in his sermon: “On the Jews and Their Lies.”
“For such ruthless wrath of God is sufficient evidence that they [i.e., the Jewish people] assuredly have erred and gone astray. Even a child can comprehend this. For one dare not regard God as so cruel that he would punish his own people so long, so terrible, so unmercifully … Therefore this work of wrath is proof that the Jews, surely rejected by God, are no longer his people, and neither is he any longer their God. (“On the Jews and Their Lies,” Trans. Martin H. Bertram, in Luther’s Works [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971], p. 265).
How could a man used of God as was Martin Luther come to such a conclusion about the Jews? It is written that later in his life, Luther was convinced that he was called of God to save the Jews. When his efforts failed he became enraged. In one night, in response to his anti-Semitic sermon, synagogues were burned to the ground and over 2000 Jews were slaughtered. Martin Luther was used by God in a mighty way in the Great Reformation, but alas he was merely a man. His teachings about Jews had a dramatic impact on the church in Germany for many years to come. Hitler was a great fan of Luther. He carried the sermon: “On the Jews and Their Lies” to every SS meeting.
RT is closely related to Reformed or Covenant Theology, which is associated with John Calvin. If you’ve noticed that your pastor does not speak or teach on eschatology (the study of End Times) it’s most likely that the leadership of your church adhere to amillennialism. A view of eschatology which views End Times prophecy as “spiritual” instead of literal. It’s a convenient way of avoiding the promises made to Israel in the Word. Since the proponents of RT believe that the church inherited the promises made to Israel, there is no need to teach that End Times prophecy is literal. The prophecies are viewed more as allegorical.
Quote from John Calvin about the Jews:
“Their [the Jews] rotten and unbending stiffneckedness deserves that they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone.” ~ John Calvin
Satan is determined to lie and deceive mankind. He uses just a little bit of truth (Scripture) and then twists it for his purposes. He knows the Word better than any one of us. His motivation for memorizing God’s Word is to seek and destroy God’s people. He started in the Garden of Eden with Eve. He tried it against Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus always fought him (and shut him down) with pure Scripture.
God made a Covenant with Israel. I’ve read articles by Bible teachers who claim that Israel relinquished the promises made by God because of their rebellion. A present day preacher who teaches this is John Piper – but there are certainly others. God cannot lie. He made the promises. It has nothing to do with how good or bad Israel is. It has everything to do with God, His faithfulness and Bible Prophecy!
Can you imagine if our Salvation depended upon our goodness?
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Of course God does expect to see good fruit from our lives after we are born again. But if we are honest with ourselves, we will confess that we sin many times a day. Remember when Jesus told us that if we even “think” sinful thoughts i.e. “lust” that it is just as if we committed the sin?
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10).
Paul speaks of this in this passage of Scripture:
“I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.(Romans 7: 21-25). (emphasis added)
Hatred of the Jews
As a student in the synagogue I attended when I was a child, the history of my people saddened me. I learned of the persecution by the Catholic Church. I learned that no matter where we went, ultimately we were placed in ghettos with locked gates. We were HATED. I would ponder in my mind why—what did we do to warrant such hatred and oppression? It wasn’t until I was born- again that I realized why. It was Satan all along. He placed hatred in the hearts of men and women for the Jews.
But I never thought that it would be this extreme. I’m shocked as I read the news and see the world flying the swastika flag all across the globe. It literally makes me sick. But I know that all things must happen according to His plan. It took the extermination of 6 million of my people to bring about the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 – a prophecy that many proponents of RT did not expect.
Israel is Israel. The church is the church. In the Old Testament, Israel was under the Law. Jesus brought us the Covenant of Grace. We are FREE in Him!
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).
“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:8-11).
Jesus was sent to earth for one reason—to die. It was His precious blood which cleansed the repentant sinner, and made him/her righteous in the eyes of the Father. Every Jew needs to come to the Father through Jesus Christ. There is no special arrangement between the Jewish people and God.
So, if you are in a church that believes that God has cast away His people—the Jews, please understand that what is being taught is not truth. Have you noticed that most of the RT denominations are vehemently anti-Israel? Are you starting to see that Satan’s plan to destroy God’s children has worked in most of the mainline churches? Here is a list of churches who believe the RT lie:
The Roman Catholic Church (Not a church, but a Cult)
Southern Baptist Convention – (depends on leadership)
The United Methodist Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
United Church of Christ
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Joplin, Mo
Please understand that in each of these denominations, it is possible to have a pastor who is a true shepherd under the Great Shepherd Jesus. But these denominations are known to adhere to the RT lie.
These churches have declared their hatred for Israel and are supporting Hamas. This is exactly what the devil wants to happen. But our Lord, being omniscient, is using all of this to fulfill His prophetic Word concerning Israel.
“And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:3).
From Arutz Sheva from Israel:
“These very liberal churches include Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and the United Church of Christ. They presently number about 16 million. Their membership and influence in the United States continue to decline. These churches’ rhetoric is usually outdone by an even harsher one of a small group of so-called ‘peace churches,’ including the Mennonites and Quakers.”
“Mainline churches claim many members from Congress. They represent America’s heartland and have adopted a range of resolutions hostile to Israel. They include calls for boycotts plus divestment and sanctions (BDS). Some are aimed at Israel, others focus on the ‘settlements.’ Several churches supported the hateful Kairos Palestine Document published in 2009 by some Palestinian Christians. There is also tourism to Israel under Palestinian auspices.
“BDS started with the passage of a resolution in 2004 at the Presbyterian Church (USA) calling for selective divestment of shares of American companies doing business in Israel. Long before that, the World Council of Churches (WCC) founded in 1948, aligned itself with ‘third world’ countries and thinking. This is an international umbrella group of mainline churches which claims denominational membership of 590 million people. It has frequently condemned Israel, yet never protested attempts by Israel’s neighbors and by terrorists to erase it from the map.
“Several of these churches also publish extremely anti-Israel educational materials. These are often the only ones members will view. The Methodists produced a study guide a few years ago authored by an apostate Jewish pastor. He admitted to hating Judaism. It featured illustrations of Israeli soldiers reminiscent of Nazi guards at a concentration camp.
“Theology is playing an increasing role in mainline churches’ anti-Israel activity. It began with the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center and its head, Dr. Naim Ateek. Many liberal churches have partnered with Sabeel. Ateek used crucifixion imagery in his Easter message of 2001: ‘It seems to many of us that Jesus is on the cross again with thousands of crucified Palestinians around him.’
” This reintroduces the ancient murderous Christian charge of deicide against the Jews. Ateek and others deny that the Bible speaks of any covenant of land with the Jews. This is a renewal of the replacement theology and supersessionism, and is extremely dangerous for Jews around the world, especially at a time of rising anti-Semitism.
“Palestinian influences in anti-Israel hate mongering is huge. They have sent teams of Palestinian Christians around the U.S for a decade, tugging at Christian heartstrings with emotional tales of woe. They are more effective than Palestinian Muslims, who don’t come as ‘brothers.’
“Still, there are surprises. In 2012, several denominations substituted positive investment resolutions in place of divestment. In some cases, votes that looked like they were heading in the anti-Israel direction were saved by impassioned speeches by pastors who spoke about the impact such a resolution would have on Jewish-Christian friendships and partnerships in their churches.
“The actions of these mainline churches have poisoned the well of Christian-Jewish dialogue. Jews entered the dialogue, which has been fruitful at times, on the basis of assurances that Christian partners left contempt for Jews and Judaism behind, and had made serious attempts to understand what was important to Jews. The way in which these churches treat Israel shows that neither is true.” – source
I ask you this: Even if you have been in one church for years, if they are teaching a lie, would it not be the right thing to do to leave and attempt to find a gathering of brothers and sisters in Christ who believe the whole Word of God?
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:3).
And a word to those seeking a place to worship:
ASK QUESTIONS. You have a right to know how leadership feels about very important issues – whether they believe the whole Word of God or choose to add or take away from God’s Holy Word.
Shalom b’Yeshua
MARANATHA!